Today my message is called “Talking with Strangers about Jesus.” Last week our message was on talking to friends about Jesus. I trust that you’ve been looking for opportunities to talk about Jesus with your friends. Bottom line is that every believer needs to be looking for opportunities to talk to both friends and strangers about Jesus.
Where do we encounter strangers? You can encounter strangers on your job, at your school, in your neighborhood, at the mall, at the grocery store, at the hairdresser, at the doctor’s office, at a restaurant, at a friend’s house, on vacation and so on. It’s easy to just discount strangers because many of them we won’t see again. However, God may have a plan for you to let your light shine with a stranger. In some ways sharing your faith with a stranger may be easier than with a friend, because you may not see them again.
1 Peter 3:14b-15 (NIV) “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
In other words, as believers, we are not to be afraid of sharing our faith with unbelievers. When Christ is Lord in our hearts, we will have His boldness. These verses instruct us to always be prepared to give an answer to those who have questions about our faith. And of course, people will only ask questions if we bring up the topic of Jesus with them. So, today, we’re going to talk about overcoming our fears and talking with strangers about Jesus.
The consequences of choosing to help a stranger and get involved in their life versus just continuing on our own way can be enormous. Those opportunities I like to call divine appointments. Situations prepared by God for us to witness about Jesus by our actions and words. How can we be more aware of the divine appointments that God has for us?
Our story today is about a New Testament believer named Philip. Philip was not an apostle, he had simply been appointed by the apostles to help server food to the church’s widows. As Philip was faithful in that, God had other work for Philip to do in sharing the good news of Jesus with both crowds of people and with an individual stranger. So, let’s look at this story of Philip in Acts 8 and see what we can learn to help us talk with strangers about Jesus.